One of the friends of Eddie Coyle......

**slcsteve** · 12-13-2006, 10:10 AM

.......as well as Young Frankenstein. One of my favorites too.

LOS ANGELES(AP) Peter Boyle, the tall, prematurely bald actor who was the tap-dancing monster in "Young Frankenstein" and the curmudgeonly father in the long-running sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," has died. He was 71.

Boyle died Tuesday evening at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He had been suffering from multiple myeloma and heart disease, said his publicist, Jennifer Plante.

A Christian Brothers monk who turned to acting, Boyle gained notice playing an angry workingman in the Vietnam-era hit "Joe." But he overcome typecasting when he took on the role of the hulking, lab-created monster in Mel Brooks' 1974 send-up of horror films.

The movie's defining moment came when Gene Wilder, as scientist Frederick Frankenstein, introduced his creation to an upscale audience. Boyle, decked out in tails, performed a song-and-dance routine to the Irving Berlin classic "Puttin' On the Ritz."

It showed another side of the Emmy-winning actor, one that would be exploited in countless other films and perhaps best in "Everybody Loves Raymond," in which he played incorrigible paterfamilias Frank Barone for 10 years.

"He's just obnoxious in a nice way, just for laughs," he said of the character in a 2001 interview. "It's a very sweet experience having this happen at a time when you basically go back over your life and see every mistake you ever made."

When Boyle tried out for the role opposite series star Ray Romano's Ray Barone, however, he was kept waiting for his audition _ and he was not happy.

"He came in all hot and angry," recalled the show's creator, Phil Rosenthal, "and I hired him because I was afraid of him."

But Rosenthal also noted: "I knew right away that he had a comic presence."

**jduffy** · 12-13-2006, 10:18 AM

Great actor, funny man. Great role in YF.

**bearbeard** · 12-13-2006, 10:20 AM

I had just read this...he was absolutely perfect in the "Everybody loves Raymond" role. And some days he had me laughing so hard. Especially when I really needed it.
And he was perfect in the "Young Frankenstein" as well.

I feel for his family, someone of his personality will really leave a void that can not be filled.

**Queen of Blades** · 12-13-2006, 10:23 AM

I agree, great actor. I especially liked him in "Johnny Dangerously".

**ouch** · 12-13-2006, 10:27 AM

Puttin' on the Ritz.

He was great in Joe and in Taxi Driver.

**dgauvreau** · 12-13-2006, 12:02 PM

Originally Posted by mrs. chefchris

I agree, great actor. I especially liked him in "Johnny Dangerously".

Wow, and I thought I was the only one who ever saw that movie. "..and knock down that fargin' wall..."

**Queen of Blades** · 12-13-2006, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by dgauvreau

Wow, and I thought I was the only one who ever saw that movie. "..and knock down that fargin' wall..."

That is one of my all-time favorite movies.

**dgauvreau** · 12-13-2006, 12:31 PM

Originally Posted by mrs. chefchris

That is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Yeah, I saw it when I was way to young to see it. Went around calling my elementary school classmates "fargin' iceholes". And Peter Boyle was hilarious in that movie.

**Mottern Man** · 12-13-2006, 12:33 PM

Originally Posted by mrs. chefchris

I agree, great actor. I especially liked him in "Johnny Dangerously".

I saw that movie once...........once

Another sad one today

**Queen of Blades** · 12-13-2006, 12:34 PM

Originally Posted by dgauvreau

Yeah, I saw it when I was way to young to see it. Went around calling my elementary school classmates "fargin' iceholes". And Peter Boyle was hilarious in that movie.

I also saw it when I was way too young.

I wasn't quoting the movie though. Atleast not in public.

**Mama Bear** · 12-13-2006, 12:36 PM

Oh, what a shame...

He didn't seem that old!

He was a MONK! lol

**Queen of Blades** · 12-13-2006, 12:36 PM

Originally Posted by Doc Mottern

I saw that movie once...........once

Another sad one today

Excellent Joe Piscopo impression.

**Scorpio** · 12-13-2006, 07:40 PM

So sad I really enjoy his characters;

btw "fargin war"

I love that movie.

Raf

**TimmyBoston** · 12-13-2006, 10:20 PM

I'm really sad about this. I thought he was nothing short of brilliant on Everybody Loves Raymond. He will be surely missed.

**zachster** · 12-13-2006, 11:04 PM

I was amazed by his performance in "Joe," when I saw it in a film class in the mid-80s. He was one of those actors who, unfortunately, was destined to have just one or two great roles, much like George C. Scott after Patton.